Hughes urges Bojan patience from fans

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has urged the club's fans to be patient as Bojan Krkic settles into life in the Premier League.

The 23-year-old forward, who joined Stoke from Spanish giants Barcelona last month, has captured the imagination of the Britannia Stadium faithful with his promising pre-season form.

Bojan scored three goals during Stoke's preparations for the new campaign, and Hughes believes he could have a special player on his hands.

"He has done very well in pre-season," he said. "He is a talented boy and everyone can see the threat he carries.

"We will have to be patient though because he is coming into a new league - one of which he hasn't been exposed to before.

"We had a similar situation with Marko Arnautovic last season, who needed a few months to excel.

"He will be a real impact player for us though. He is used to winning games, and he is a big-game player in many regards.

"I have seen enough already to know that we have an exceptionally talented young player.

"Getting him here is a real coup for us, there is no doubt about that."

In addition to Bojan, Phil Bardsley, Steve Sidwell, Mame Biram Diouf and Dionatan Teixeira have all arrived at Stoke, but Hughes insists there is more business to be done before the transfer window closes.

"We are still hopeful on a number of fronts," the Welshman added. "We just have to bide our time.

"A lot of these things are dictated by people other than ourselves.

"We have options out there. We do have a budget and an amount of money that we are willing to spend."

Stoke begin their Premier League campaign against Aston Villa on Saturday.